How to build teamwork
And do you [really] need it?
Hey👋, I’m Andrew from Effy AI. Welcome to The Power of Teamwork, my biweekly newsletter on building high-performing teams. Subscribe to join 12,000 readers.
Q: Do all teams need teamwork?
While a common goal is something every team should have, they don’t always have to work together to reach it. There are two types of workers:
Independent workers: Take, for instance, hackathons or contests – in these scenarios, competitiveness pushes everyone to outperform themselves and find unique solutions. We could say the same for sales representatives trying to outdo each other or quality testers who must work individually to ensure objectivity.
Collaborative workers: The above principles don’t apply to collaborative teams, such as a product management team of designers, engineers, and marketers. They have to collaborate to launch products that align with market demands and user preferences.
Our recommendations will apply only to the second type of workers. Let’s see how you can turn such a group of extraordinary individuals into a tight-knit, productive crew.
Pillars of successful teamwork
So, how do you make a team – in the words of Aristotle – “more than the sum of its parts”? Here’s how to turn any bunch of misfits into The Fellowship of the Ring with six simple principles for building a team.
Gather some tech pros, marketing experts and a mix of fresh graduates and experienced professionals. This mix of diverse perspectives should be your foundation and the source of unique perspectives you can’t get from people with the same backgrounds.
What does every Fellowship need? A Ring. By that, we mean aligned expectations, making everyone march to the same beat. The key is establishing a common goal, with everyone jamming to the same song.
Just like you would want an elvish bow to surprise enemies from afar and a dwarven hammer for close combat, your team should also have complementary skills, the coder's and analyst’s precision balances the designer's creativity and vision.
Gandalf didn’t just tell Frodo to travel to Mordor alone, did he? So, take some stress off your team members’ shoulders with shared responsibilities. No one should have to carry a weight that’s too much for their shoulders.
There’s a point in every long journey when the Fellowship turns into a sort of mismatched family… and you know what families do best. They fight – but it’s not just for the sake of fighting. They want to be heard, so you need enhanced communication where nobody is afraid to speak up, everyone trusts each other, and the arguments lead towards progress, tightening the bonds.
All these shared experiences and exchanged knowledge make everyone a better professional – and person. The hobbits discovered their bravery, the dwarves overcame their prejudices and the elves allowed themselves to be more vulnerable.
Now that you know the critical stages for forming a successful team, let's explore how you can organize the team's work.
Storming, Norming and Performing
The next thing you should do is focus on the flow of work. Bruce Tuckman's model for a high-performing team includes five stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. Since the first is all about bringing together a team and the last is project completion, we’ll only focus on the “meaty” in between.
Storming: Say a software development team was to create a new mobile app. After a brief period of politeness and reserve, differences are bound to arise. Everyone has different points of view and working styles, not to mention the endless possibilities of design preferences. Establishing authority in such a chaotic state can be challenging when dominant characters clash. The leader’s job is to resolve conflicts by encouraging respectful communication, making sure everyone’s voice is heard and focusing on finding common ground. This stage can feel tedious and frustrating, but guiding the team through it with a solid plan and compassion prevents the harmful buildup of conflicts.
Norming: You’ll know that the “storm” has passed once everyone appreciates each others’ expertise and contributions. Regular open meetings help members agree on coding standards, roles in the team and a shared vision. To guide the team forward, the supervisor should reinforce positive behaviors, address any lingering misunderstandings and encourage code reviews or brainstorming sessions.
Performing: This is when the biggest progress can be seen. Everyone knows what the end result should be and trusts each other’s judgment. The app is looking better than in the initial projects because of everyone’s complimentary skills and ideas stemming from different perspectives. The leader should provide necessary resources and support along the way but can take a step back, becoming more of a mentor and facilitating autonomous decision-making. MIT’s Judith Stein says, “Roles on the team may have become more fluid, with members taking on various roles and responsibilities as needed.”
Remember that internal or external environment changes can take the team back a step or two. However, the team leader's main goal should be to move the team from stage to stage. With good leadership and shared values, teams can stay in the Performing stage indefinitely – or until the Adjourning stage, when the project ends or the organization is reorganized.
Rituals
We’ve mentioned that the manager doesn’t always have to stay involved. In fact, the measure of a good team is its ability to function effectively even in the absence of a supervisor. Team rituals are a key way to build such autonomy.
Ceremonies and habits are an inherent part of human life. They provide a sense of structure and safety. In the workplace, they help to keep everyone aligned, connected and supported by one another. This can be something as simple as going for a coffee break together – which isn’t as easy, although equally important, in remote or hybrid teams.
Still, with some effort, you can use the power of rituals to boost morale and foster a feeling of belonging in any situation.
Here are a few tips from Dan Pupius, CEO and Co-Founder of Range, to help you create a sense of camaraderie among your team, even if its members are oceans and timezones away:
Create a virtual break room: This can be as low-effort as a separate Slack channel for all things off-topic. Get team members to exchange memes, interests, recipes or anything in between. Get them feeling more like a tight-knit friend group.
Celebrate milestones: Whether it’s a simple message every now and again or a full-length meeting, take the time to congratulate each other on anniversaries, good ideas or for a job well done.
Practice gratitude: Set an example of expressing gratitude – often and honestly. Recognize when someone did something right or inspired you, however small the action. Research shows that kindness at work predicts happiness at work and in life.
Remember not to force everyone to participate in your team-building ideas, either. Everyone has their own character, tempo and habits. Encouraging rituals also means giving your employees the space to create their own ones. Recognize that you don’t always have to be involved.
How can teamwork fail?
Now that you know how to promote healthy, productive teamwork and build meaningful work relationships, you should also be aware of what obstacles you can encounter along the way.
Here are some roadblocks you can come across:
Destructive conflict: While a constructive, respectful conflict is a vital part of problem-solving, there’s also the negative type that hinders performance or even borders on harassment. You should address destructive conflict as soon as possible, as it can harm the entire workplace, not just the individuals directly concerned.
Groupthink: Irving Janis coined the term in his 1972 book. Groupthink happens when a group always agrees on everything and is determined to stick to a specific course of action, even in the face of evidence against it. It might sound trivial, but it has actually led to severe disasters in the past – such as the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986, the Enron debacle or the stock market crisis of 2008. Some symptoms of groupthink include avoiding conflict, excessive optimism, disregard for warnings and a shared sense of invulnerability.
Micromanagement: This type of controlling behavior is the way to go if you want a workplace that devalues your employees’ skills, expertise and abilities. It doesn’t sound inviting, does it? Some experts consider this type of perfectionism bullying. It makes people feel incompetent, humiliated and disempowered. In the long run, it can even cause health issues for victims, like depression, anxiety or sleep problems.
Conclusion
In the ever-evolving digital age, the ability to build and lead high-performing teams is not just a valuable skill – it's a competitive advantage.
As you continue your leadership journey, remember that teamwork is not just a catchy phrase but a catalyst for innovation and the cornerstone of a thriving workplace culture. Embrace open communication, foster trust and recognize the unique strengths each team member brings to the table.
By implementing the tips from this article, you're setting out towards a culture of collaboration and excellence. The road ahead has its challenges, but with commitment, patience and a will to adapt and learn, you’ll achieve positively surprising results.